


Pages Unread

by Arukou



Series: Tumblr Archive the Second [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 17:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arukou/pseuds/Arukou
Summary: Steve never knew that Tony knew Peggy.





	Pages Unread

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marsmaywander](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsmaywander/gifts).



> Written for [MarsMayWander](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsmaywander) who gave the prompt: "something fluffy where steve finds out about tony’s relationship with “aunt peggy”? (also, i think peggy totally has embarrassing stories to share about both of her boys)." It turned out much less fluffy than requested, but here it is.

“When you said you had some extra property in New York, this wasn’t exactly what I imagined.” Steve stared at the building, which certainly wasn’t tall, but was eye-catching insomuch as it was completely surrounded by skyscrapers and yet it had a proper yard in the heart of New York. No. Yard wasn’t the right word. It had grounds, the same way Buckingham Palace had grounds.

“It was my dad’s mansion back before he moved corporate headquarters out to California. It was just gathering dust so I figured, you know, might as well,” Tony replied, shrugging nonchalantly in the way he did when he was trying to pretend something didn’t matter that much to him. 

Steve left it alone, studying the black, wrought-iron sign over the main gate. “Maria Stark Foundation.” Pages and pages of Tony’s history carefully kept hidden away. Steve wasn’t sure if he’d ever be permitted to read them all, but he wanted to try. Oh, how he wanted to try.

Tony punched in a key code and waltzed in with an utterly cavalier air. A middle-aged woman was waiting for him at the front door; she was round and hard with edges that screamed no-nonsense.

“Mr. Stark.”

“Bambi. Keeping everything in tip-top ship?”

“Better than you ever did, sir.”

“You wound me, Bambi. I kept things up to code, didn’t I?”

Steve was intrigued by the woman, Bambi, but not as intrigued as he was by the foyer they stepped into. He hadn’t been in a place that screamed “old money” quite like this since he last visited the White House. The carpets were done up in rich Persian patterns, the walls covered with an ostentatious red paper. All the woodwork was polished dark and expensive looking, and there were puff paintings everywhere, grand portraits of Howard and a woman who must’ve been Tony’s mother. Steve paused to study the austere portrait of the two of them, noting how she stood while Howard sat, how her white dress was draped to conceal rather than reveal. So many pages he hadn’t yet read.

When he turned to follow Tony and Bambi, he discovered that he’d been left behind. Worse, the old mansion had three different hallways and a staircase all branching away from the foyer. The right-wing looked well-lit, so Steve took off at a trot, hoping he’d catch up before they realized he’d been lagging behind. Soon however, he started to suspect he’d taken a wrong turn. There were no offices, no plaques, nothing to entice donors. Maybe this was storage?

He hesitated at a branch, wondering if he should turn back or keep going, when a painting caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Something about the eyes. It was always something about the eyes, wasn’t it?

As if caught on a tow line, he turned and gravitated toward the painting. There she was, certainly older, but no less beautiful, no less poised. Her lips, as always, done in their candy-apple red. Her dark hair shot through with silver. The artist had minimized lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth , but they were still there. Her hands were folded demurely in her lap, the nails done in a red to match her mouth. Something inside him clenched and released at the same time, a contradictory study in movement. He still ached for her like it was the first time, like he was seeing her smile at him on that dusty field in Jersey all over again.

He nearly touched the portrait before he caught himself, and instead only stood closer than was strictly necessary. What was a picture of Peg doing in this place? He knew she and Howard had worked together after the war, but that hardly seemed to warrant having a hand-painted portrait of her in his mansion. But then…for the briefest moment, Steve’s treacherous mind whispered “fondue” and he was caught between mortification and deep-seated jealousy.

“There you are,” Tony said, and Steve jumped a little. He turned sheepishly and watched as Tony trotted up, slowing as he realized what Steve was looking at. “Ah. I see you found Aunt Peg.”

Steve started to nod, and then froze, eyes darting between Tony and the painting. “Aunt?” he said slowly.

“Well, godmother, technically. But I just called her Aunt. Uh. Sorry, I…sorry I never told you. It just never, uh, never came up, I guess.”

“No,” Steve murmured, turning and looking at Peggy again. “I guess it didn’t.”

Tony stood shoulder to shoulder with him, contemplating the brush strokes of Peggy’s portrait, the sweeping curl of her hair and the delicate halo on her right side where the light bounced off her skin.

“I remember her sitting for this, actually. She was so irritated with Dad. Said it was a total waste of time and why couldn’t they just take a photograph? And Dad…” Tony’s eyes grew far-away, and Steve suddenly realized he was reading a page he’d never read before, glimpsing one of those things that Tony kept so very carefully hidden. “Dad said Peg had been going 24/7, 365 since the war, and she could afford to rest a few days to get a damn portrait done.”

Tony grinned a little, glancing up at Steve with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “She said, ‘Nonsense. I took time off when I was pregnant.’ And Dad said, ‘No you didn’t. You had those babies right there in your office while you were signing off paperwork.’ And Jarvis was there, too and he said, ‘No sir, you misremember. She had those babies while infiltrating some nefarious communist spy satellite in Flushing.’ Dad laughed so hard. Harder than I’d ever seen him laugh at the time. Made me wonder if he used to be like that all the time.”

Trailing off into silence, Tony stared up at Peg’s portrait, and Steve’s heart ached a little harder. He knew Howard had changed in the many years since the war, but he was never quite sure in what ways. Steve could barely even imagine a Howard Stark who wasn’t joking and laughing.

“She was a good woman.” Tony said suddenly, turning to face Steve and looking strangely resolute. “She…she was busy. Busy all the time. But she always remembered my birthday, and she remembered what I liked. She’d always send me little robotics kits or beautiful tools. She once gave me a telescope. Her kids were sweet, too, even though they were older than me. I didn’t get to see them much, but when I did, they were always nice to me.”

 _Almost like a real family_ , Steve heard behind Tony’s words. After a moment longer looking at Peg’s too-sharp eyes, he turned to Tony. “I bet she’s real proud of you.”

Tony ducked his head and looked away. “Last time I visited, she thought I was Howard. Tried to throw a pen at me for ‘getting fresh with Lenore.’ After that…after that I had a hard time visiting.”

Steve swallowed hard, unsure what to say. He still flew to DC at least once a month to see her. Tony never said anything about it, but maybe. Maybe…

“We could go see her together next time. If you want, I mean. She still has good days. I bet she’d like to see what ever became of her godson. Can you imagine her finding out you’ve got to put up with my stubbornness now.”

“Oh god,” Tony said, covering his face with a hand. “She’d tease me like you wouldn’t believe. She knew I…uh…” Tony froze, glancing at Steve through the gaps in his fingers.

“Knew what?”

Tony choked a little and hid his face again. “She knew I had a crush on you. Growing up I mean. I idolized you a little.”

“Oh? You did, did you?” Steve asked, sauntering a little closer and hooking his arms around Tony’s shoulders.

“Oh god. I’m so sorry I said anything.”

“Imagine that,” Steve said, tone still teasing. He sobered a little though as he leaned down to press his forehead to Tony’s. “Do you want to? Visit her, I mean.”

Tony removed his hand from his face, eyes darting toward the portrait before he looked up at Steve. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that, I think.”

Steve hummed and pulled Tony in tighter. “Good,” he said, rocking them both a little. “I’m gonna ask her what you were like as a toddler.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://arukou-arukou.tumblr.com/post/156250989171/marsmaywander-replied-to-your-post).


End file.
